Renewed Funding Supports Continued Telepsychiatry Care for Nursing Home Residents
A 麻豆视频 pilot project demonstrating that telepsychiatry reduces emergency department visits and re-hospitalizations for nursing home residents has earned long-term funding from the . Grant-funded since 2017, the UR Medicine Telepsychiatry Program has helped nursing homes meet quality metrics, lowered nursing home residents鈥� use of antipsychotics, hypnotics and sedatives, and reduced residents鈥� depression symptoms compared to traditional approaches.
OMH recently awarded $6 million to the Department of Psychiatry to continue providing geriatric telepsychiatry to more than 60 nursing homes throughout the state, the third consecutive round of funding. This continuous support makes the initiative the first OMH 鈥渓egacy program鈥� for the University of Rochester.
鈥淲hen the Office of Mental Health wants to try something innovative, they have a pot of funding for testing. We鈥檝e been using this pot to build, test and show the importance of the program since 2017,鈥� said Michael J. Hasselberg, Ph.D., Chief of Innovation and Technology in the Department of Psychiatry.
鈥淚f it demonstrates that it improves quality of care and delivers of the outcomes of interest, the program receives a sustainable investment by the state. We鈥檙e no longer at the mercy of those 鈥榠nnovative funds.鈥� Our program isn鈥檛 an 鈥榰nknown鈥� anymore.鈥�
UR Medicine clinicians have been working with OMH to prioritize the telepsychiatry program in skilled nursing facilities throughout the state, offering valuable mental health services to nursing home residents coping with dementia and mental illness. The renewed funding will support the program鈥檚 growth, with the goal of eventually serving the state鈥檚 more than 600 nursing homes.
